Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/334

362 known as one of the most popular places of worship in Edinburgh. At this period it was proposed by some of the members of the congregation, instead of building the new chapel in the old town, to build it at the end of the North Bridge, then recently finished after its fall, near the place where the Theatre Royal now stands. After some deliberation the project was abandoned, "as it was not thought possible that the projected new town could come to any thing"—a most curious instance of the degree in which the progress of improvement in this country has exceeded the hopes of the wannest enthusiasts in the land.

Being sincerely attached to the episcopalian persuasion, Sir William had "long been desirous that the members of the English communion resident in this country should be connected with the episcopal church of Scotland : by which alone they could obtain the benefit of confirmation, and the other solemn services of that church. He was very eariiest.in his endeavours to effect this union: and although there were many obstacles to overcome, he had succeeded in a great degree during his own lifetime in bringing it to a conclusion. On this subject he had much correspondence with many leading men connected with the church of England, archbishop Moore, bishop Porteous, and Sir William Scott, as well as bishop Abernethy Drummond, and the prelates of the Scottish episcopal church. In 1793, it was arranged that Mr Bauchor, vicar of Epsom, should, on the resignation of bishop Abernethy Drummond, be elected bishop, and the congregation of the Cowgate chapel were to acknowledge him as bishop. The scheme, however, was abandoned at that time, from a certain degree of 'jealousy which subsisted on the part of the established church of Scotland: but it was renewed afterwards, when that feeling had died away; and to the favourable impressions produced by his exertions, seconded as they subsequently were by the efforts of his son, afterwards lord Medwyn, the happy accomplishment of the union of the two churches, so eminently conducive to the respectability and usefulness of both, is chiefly to be ascribed.

His son-in-law, the late able and esteemed Mr M'Kenzie of Portmore, having prepared a plan for establishing a fund in aid of the bishops of the Scottish episcopal church, and of such of the poorer clergy as stood in need of assistance, he entered warmly into the scheme, and drew up the memoir respecting the present state of the episcopal church, which was circulated in 1806, and produced such beneficial results. He not only subscribed largely himself, but by his example and influence was the chief cause of the success of the subscription, which he had the satisfaction of seeing in a very advanced state of progress before his death.

He was, from its foundation, not only a director of the Cowgate chapel, but took the principal lead in its affairs. A vacancy in that chapel having occurred in 1800, he was chiefly instrumental in bringing down the Rev. Mr Alison, the well known author of the Essay on Taste, then living at a remote rectory in Shropshire, to fill the situation. Under the influence of that eloquent divine, the congregation rapidly increased, both in number and respectability, and was at length enabled in 1818, through the indefatigable exertions of lord Medwyn, by their own efforts, aided by the liberality of their friends, to erect the present beautiful structure of St Paul's chapel in York place. At the same time, Sir William Forbes, eldest son of the subject of this memoir, effected by similar exertions the completion of St John's chapel in Prince's Street; and thus, chiefly by the efforts of a single family, in less than half a century, was the episcopal communion of Edinburgh raised from its humble sites in Blackfriars' Wynd and Carrubber's Close, and placed in two beautiful edifices, raised at an expense of above £30,000, and which must strike